At St. Patrick's church in Manchester NH, just before Christmas in 1995,
a woman was sexually assaulted by a priest during confession, while her
daughters knelt in a nearby pew. Diocesan files document the attack,
its causes, and its callous
aftermath. These diocesan
documents, which were released by the New Hampshire Attorney General in
March 2003, offer a unique case study of the international trade in accused
priests. We provide a narrative of the case, followed by a complete table
of links to the file.

Anthony
Hilary

Bishop
Tharmaraj

Bishop
O'Neil

Nicholas
Rogers

Msgr.
Christian

Rev. Anthony M. Hilary was sent from India to the United States in June
1995 by Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj, who gave the priest a clean
bill of health. But a whistleblowing priest named Rev. Benjamin Sebastian
wrote to the Manchester diocese
and told them that Hilary was a violent alcoholic who had abused girls
in the Indian diocese of Kottar. Despite that letter and a second
warning, Hilary immediately found
a place with Rev. Nicholas Rogers of St. Patrick's in Manchester,
although an alert female administrator questioned Hilary's status in a
note to the chancellor. While the bishops of Kottar and Manchester debated
the priest's fate by mail and fax for six months, Hilary said Mass, heard
confessions, and sexually assaulted a woman—hardly more than a mile
from the Manchester bishop's own office.

When the Indian bishop was confronted
with the whistleblower's report shortly after Hilary's arrival in Manchester,
he readily admitted that
Hilary was an alcoholic with a history of sexual abuse. But he reversed
himself after Hilary complained, explaining
confidentially, when Bishop O'Neil confronted
him, that the first letter was a personal report, while the second was
forced upon him by his own administration. Meanwhile Bishop O'Neil and
his chancellor, Msgr. Francis J. Christian, played their own cynical game,
pretending to Hilary that
an oversupply of priests prevented them from assigning him to a parish.
When Hilary condemned their "non-helping
attitude" (mailing his complaint in a St. Patrick's rectory envelope),
Christian smoothly congratulated him on his vindication by Tharmaraj and
renewed the disingenuous
offer of a parish assignment "if you can find a pastor."

While Bishop Tharmaraj lied to Bishop O'Neil and Msgr. Christian lied
to Hilary, the priest continued to work at St. Patrick's—using the
confessional to scout for victims, as O'Neil himself later observed.
The victim he selected has left an account
of the attack that is also a poignant record of her faith, in stark contrast
to the bishops' machinations. When Bishop O'Neil forwarded her letter
to Bishop Tharmaraj on the day after Christmas, he wrote two cover letters.
One told the Indian bishop that "given
those [earlier] allegations, ... it is all the more likely that the complainant's
story is absolutely true." But he sent the woman a copy of a
different cover letter, in which he never
mentioned that Hilary had offended before, or that the Manchester
bishop and his monsignor had known Hilary's history before the Indian
priest even arrived in the woman's parish. He thus absolved himself and
his monsignor of any blame in the case, and deprived the victim of the
knowledge she needed.

Bishop Tharmaraj wrote
that he "was very sorry at the whole episode," but also observed
that Hilary considered the abuse charge "a gross exaggeration of
a farewell gesture of hugging." Tharmaraj promised to keep the victim
"in my prayers." Then he and Rev. Anthony M. Hilary moved on
together. They are now the patron and bursar of a technical college in
India, which proudly displays their photographs on its home page:

Letter stating that Hilary is a priest
in good standing and may work in the US for three years

Bishop Tharmaraj

02-14-95

3546

Letter stating that
Hilary is an alcoholic who was alleged to have molested girls in India,
where the diocese of Kottar "once investigated one of the allegations
and found it to be true." Hilary is coming to the US and will
likely seek a parish assignment in Manchester.

Memo: Hilary is working full-time with
Rev. Nicholas Rogers, pastor of St. Patrick's in Manchester. A handwritten
note has been added by Helen to Msgr. Christian about Hilary, "Don't
we have to send a letter granting him faculties of the diocese?"

Msgr. Bolduc

Bishop O'Neil

06-30-95

3547

3548

Letter telling the
bishop of Kottar what O'Neil has heard: that Hilary drinks, has been
accused of molesting girls, and that Tharmaraj has investigated and
verified one of the allegations

Bishop O'Neil

Bishop Tharmaraj

07-19-95

3549

Handwritten note, perhaps referring
to O'Neil's 7/19/95 letter and asking whether it should be filed with
Bolduc's 6/30/95 memo about "Fr. Roger's new priest." Apparently
in the same handwriting as the note on Bolduc's memo.

Helen?

Msgr. Francis Christian?

3550

Letter replying to
O'Neil's 7/19/95 letter, confirming that Hilary had an alcohol problem,
that he was accused of abuse, and that one accusation was "proved"
by Kottar (after Hilary left for the US). O'Neil must "keep this
information confidential."

Bishop Tharmaraj

Bishop O'Neil

07-27-95

3556

Letter providing contact
information for two visiting Kottar priests who can corroborate Sebastian's
report about Hilary.

Sebastian

Christian

8/9/95

3553

Letter thanking Sebastian for his 8/9/95
letter. Hilary has been informed that Manchester can't give him a
parish assignment. Sebastian's letter and "other information"
has been kept confidential by saying that a surplus of new priests
is the reason.

Christian

Sebastian

08-14-95

3554

Letter: Hilary has been informed that
because of a surplus of new priests next year, Manchester cannot give
him a parish assignment. O'Neil thanks Tharmaraj for "frankly
sharing with me Father Hilary's history of problems."

Bishop O'Neil

Bishop Tharmaraj

08-15-95

3555

Faxed letter asking that Manchester
wait for a letter from Tharmaraj before deciding about Hilary.

Bishop Tharmaraj

Christian

09-06-95

3557

Letter contradicting his previous 7/27/95
letter. Hilary does not have a drinking problem, and Tharmaraj has
"never heard of any incident of child-abuse by him." Please
give him a position.

Bishop Tharmaraj

Bishop O'Neil

09-06-95

3558

Letter explaining his 9/6/95 letter.
Christian seems to have told Hilary about the allegations; Hilary
told Tharmaraj; Tharmaraj told his curia; they asked him to send the
letter "as these complaints are not proved or tested here."
Hilary is fighting the allegation.

Bishop Tharmaraj

Bishop O'Neil

09-07-95?

3559

Letter asking clarification. Tharmaraj
had written that Hilary had problems; Christian told Hilary that Manchester
had too many priests; Hilary tried to find work anyway; Christian
told him there were allegations, without revealing sources, and ministry
was impossible without a Tharmaraj letter clearing Hilary; we expected
you to corroborate your previous letter, but instead you contradicted
it. "Terrible scandal and perhaps civil liabilities" could
result "if Father Hilary is knowingly allowed to function with
an unresolved history of these problems."

Bishop O'Neil

Bishop Tharmaraj

09-13-95

3560

3561

Letter replying to O'Neil's 9/13/95
letter. My first 7/27/95 letter was "my opinion from the reports
and complaints, received mostly after he left the country. This I
have not shared with my curia members either as it was not opportune."
My second 9/6/95 letter "is an offici[a]l one wherein I have
explained what the curia members feel about him." Don't "reveal
my personal information as it would create unpleasant situation in
my diocese."

Bishop Tharmaraj

Bishop O'Neil

09-21-95

3562

Letter saying that after Tharmaraj's
recent letter, O'Neil "will be happy to permit you to serve as
a priest." We have too many new priests to give you a position,
but if you can find a pastor "willing to employ you," we'll
"confirm that personal arrangement."

Christian

Hilary

10-16-95

3563

Letter replying
to Christian's 10/16/95 letter. I cannot find a place "without
your personal interest." Your "non-helping attitude"
has made me "feel insecure and helpless." In an 8/31/95
call, you said you had a place for me. But in a 9/5/95 meeting, you
told me that a Kottar priest made two allegations. Send me a copy
of the "false allegations." This letter was sent in a St.
Patrick's rectory envelope.

Hilary

Christian

12-01-95

3566

3567

Letter replying
to Hilary's 12/1/95 letter. I was clear from the beginning about our
priest surplus. The allegation had to be checked with your bishop,
who vindicated you. The accuser requested confidentiality.

Christian

Hilary

12-04-95

3564

3565

Letter from a woman describing how
Hilary abused her in confession while her teenage daughters waited
to confess. "I beg your pardon Father, for having to present
you with this problem.... I have prayed for Fr. Hillery but now I
want to forget about it because when I think of it I have difficulty
sleeping and it upsets me very much."

Complainant [name redacted]

Christian

12-??-95

3572

3575

Cover letter #1 enclosing and summarizing
the woman's complaint, but not alluding to Tharmaraj's account of
previous complaints.

Bishop O'Neil

Bishop Tharmaraj

12-26-95

3570

3571

Cover letter #2, explaining that the
first cover letter did not refer to Tharmaraj's warning about Hilary
"since it is necessary to provide a copy of that letter to the
complainant." O'Neil admits (but not to the woman who accused
Hilary) that "given those [earlier] allegations, however, it
is all the more likely that the complainant's story is absolutely
true."

Letter replying to O'Neil's 12/26/95
letter. I am "very sorry at the whole episode," but Hilary
considers the charge "a gross exaggeration of a farewell gesture
of hugging." Tharmaraj will keep the victim "in his prayers."

Bishop Tharmaraj

Bishop O'Neil

05-10-96

3576

3577

Note from BishopAccountability.org: The Kotar bishop
described an accusation against Hilary as "proved," and Bishop
O'Neil called the Manchester victim's account "likely" to be
"absolutely true." But we remind our readers that in the U.S.
courts, an accused person is innocent until proven guilty. The victim
did not press charges. As Bishop O'Neil wrote
to Bishop Tharmaraj, "because of her love for the Church and the
priesthood, [she] is content in knowing that I am writing to you about
this matter and that you will give it your every consideration."